


The Epic Love of Scott McCall

by ferretbaby



Series: Wing Series [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angel!Stiles, Angels have emotions too, Captivity, Cliche, Fluff, Implied Torture, M/M, Nests, Wingfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-16
Updated: 2012-07-18
Packaged: 2017-11-03 19:08:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/384846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ferretbaby/pseuds/ferretbaby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Actually this isn’t about Scott’s love life, not really. It’s about the angel sent down to protect Scott’s fledgling romance and his love life. The angel’s, just so you know. Derek really wishes he bought a vacuum.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Proposition

***

Derek came home for the third day in a row to a scattering of downy feathers lying about his small apartment, small brown and white feathers littering the halls, from the kitchen to the living room to the stairs and up to the second story. It looks like someone plucked a coop full of chickens, dispersing feathers everywhere, and any minute now a herd of naked hens would appear careening around the corner.

“Don’t you have a home, maybe a fluffy cloud to hang out on instead of roosting here?” Derek grumped, putting his bag of groceries aside and kicking at some of the fluff strewn about the floor.  This has gotten ridiculous.

“Are you molting or something?” He yells, maybe this time his _house guest_ will hear him.

There’s a bang from upstairs and a minute later Stiles comes clambering down the stairs, stumbling over his feet instead of the large wing appendages coming from his back. It sometimes takes Derek’s breath away that he knows an angel, and actual angel. Then he remembers this angel is something of a nuisance.

“What now?”

“I asked when. Are. You. Going. Home.” Derek enunciated. “Why are you still squatting here? Go back to Scott’s or better yet, Heaven.”

Stiles scratched at his neck, looking flustered. “You know I can’t do that, man. Not possible. I got a mission here.”

“So why aren’t you out there doing it instead of molting all over my house. I’m sure your mission to protect McCall’s epic love will be better served at McCall’s house.” Derek glared. Yesterday he found some feathers in his bed and Stiles was under strict rules not to go into Derek’s room. Actually he could probably collect all the feathers around the house and make a nice pillow out of them. Angel down pillows; sounds like a good night’s sleep. If he could get Stiles to leave.

Stiles twitched nervously, or more accurately his wings did, every indication that whatever Stiles was about to say Derek wouldn’t appreciate it.

Looking away, Stiles mumbled. “He kicked me out.”

“Excuse me.” Derek deadpanned.

Looking towards the ceiling now, Stiles said a little more loudly, “He…kicked me out. Said I was ruining his game and I think the Sheriff is on to me, he keeps giving me these weird looks. I wish Melissa would date someone else.”

Derek pinched the bridge of his nose ignoring the comment about the Sheriff. Sheriff Stilinski was a perfectly good man, no matter what Scott and Stiles said. “Are you saying that Scott won’t let you stay at his place because he has his girlfriend over?”

“Pretty much.” Stiles shrugs, the tips of his wings brushing against his thighs. “And well, I’m supposed to promote their love in any and every fashion. He said that my service will be better served away from him so he could romance her without an audience. I didn’t think there was any harm in that.”

Sounded like BS to Derek but he didn’t want to break the angel’s heart by giving him the idea that Scott might have lied to him, Stiles was strangely charming in his innocent loyalty to his charge.

“I’d rather stay close in case something goes wrong, and Lydia’s with that Jackson Whittemore boy again and he thinks I’m creepy.”

“That’s because you tried to talk to Lydia in your freaky angel language in front of him and nearly burst his eardrums.” That hadn’t been a pleasant experience for Derek either and he’d been about five miles away. While being a werewolf gave him the ability to see what sort of creatures Stiles and Lydia were, it didn’t give him the capacity to actually hear angel-tongue, and to regular ears it sounded like screeching.

“It’s Enochian and it’s a beautiful language,” Stiles said, waving Derek away as he walked towards the kitchen. “What did you get for dinner? I’m starving.”

Derek followed after the angel, watching the shift of Stiles’ wings as he walked. They were looking a little bit dull lately, like being away from Heaven had taken away some of their shine and luster. Maybe there was an actual reason Stiles was losing so many feathers and not because he was enticing Derek to murder him in annoyance when he stepped on another feather shaft barefoot.

“I got food to make tacos and you can’t have any, freeloader.”

“Aww,” Stiles whined as he hopped onto the bar stool, the only chair comfortable for him to sit in for any extended period of time. “Just because I don’t have to eat doesn’t mean I don’t like to, human food tastes good, and haven’t you ever heard of sharing or is that a philosophy your mother forgot to teach you?”

“’Philosophy will clip an angel’s wings’.”

Stiles snorted, digging through the bags anyways despite Derek’s glare and pulling out a peach, his favorite. “Keats. Are you going to quote poetry for me Derek?”

The angel smirked at him, his deep brown eyes meeting Derek’s. While the color would otherwise be considered plain, there was a spark; an immensity behind Stiles’ eyes that shone through as otherworldly. Derek had to look away after a second or risk telling the angel how remarkable he was.

“Please,” Derek snorted, putting away some of his groceries and setting out the rest for dinner. “As if you need people singing you any more praise then you already get. You’ve somehow convinced my family that you’re some sort of holy creature and not the unearthly immature teenage that you really are.”

Stiles giggled, taking a juicy bite out of the peach. “You’re just upset that your mom likes me better than you. By the way, she called while you were out and we’re invited to lunch at the house tomorrow.”

“Fine, but stop telling her stories about my living conditions, she already thinks I’m living on the brink of poverty.”

“All I said was if you spent as much on your apartment as you do on your car that you could have a two bedroom and it wouldn’t be so cramped in here when Scott and I come over. That’s it! What she took from that is all from her own imagination, I had nothing to do with it.” Stiles manipulated the truth like no one’s business but he never lied so Derek would give him that.

 With his back turned to Stiles while he cooked, the angel couldn’t see Derek grin. He was teasing the angel of course; Derek enjoyed his mother’s fussing and didn’t mind sharing his family with either Scott or Stiles, especially Stiles. Derek’s mom loved to talk history with the angel and Laura would ask him questions about the dinosaurs that really got him flustered, and Derek liked seeing his family happy. Their lives were already interesting because of the werewolf thing, but there was something about seeing an actual angel that really brought the family to life.

***

After dinner- where they both ate- Derek and Stiles retired to the living room to watch TV, Derek sitting on the couch while Stiles spread out on the floor. One wing curling forward so Stiles could run his fingers through the barbs, smoothing out the feathers so they were better aligned. Derek kept looking over to watch Stiles even though his favorite show was on, studying the angel as he fixed his messy wing, wondering how Stiles was going to get the part near his back.

“Do you need help with that?” Derek surprised himself by asking.

Stiles stopped, gaping at Derek like he asked Stiles to strip naked and dance the hula.

“What? Just asking if you needed help.” Derek tried to play it off, shrugging nonchalantly as he felt his face heat up. What was so bad about asking if Stiles needed help with his wings? Wasn’t like he was propositioning the guy.

Stiles cleared his throat. “Um, while I….appreciate the offer, I can handle it. Thanks though.”

Derek raised an eyebrow, putting his nerves aside to help Stiles. “You sure? I don’t mind” He had an odd urge to touch the appendages, to feel the muscle shift and the feathers stir under his hands.

Stiles squeaked and Derek watched in fascination as he flushed from the root of his hair down the collar of his shirt.

“You don’t know what you’re asking; only family or mates help an angel groom their wings. It’s very personal, the equivalent to giving someone a bath.”

Derek smirked, his cheeks still feeling hot. “So you’re taking an angel shower in front of me?”

“I’m not naked!” Stiles wings gave a shiver. “I mean-no! Ugh, this doesn’t translate well over to human, suffice to say, thanks but no thanks.”

Squashing the disappointment, Derek sat back on the couch, feeling slightly like he’d just been rejected by a crush.

Stiles bit his lip, his pale cheeks flushing a pretty pink as we went back to grooming his wings, glancing every now and then at Derek from under his eyelashes. Derek resolutely kept his eyes on the TV.

After half an hour of awkward silence Derek couldn’t handle it anymore.

“How is your mission going?”

Stiles was trying to reach the scapulars (Derek will never in a million years admit to researching parts of a wing in some kind of fanboy excitement because he met an angel) and failing to smooth the feathers out to his specification, leaving part of  the upper wing untidy looking. Derek gave Stiles an exasperated look but didn’t say anything.

“Fine, I guess. Scott and Allison are together at least so that’s good. Now my main concern is when Allison’s dad finds out that Scott’s a werewolf and decided to hunt him down like a dog.”

“The Argents aren’t unreasonable,” except a few members and one specifically but Derek wasn’t going to talk about that right now. “We have a truce with them that they won’t hunt us as long as we don’t kill innocent people.”

Stiles started in on his other wing. “But I’ve watched humans before, there’s what they say they’re okay with and _what they actually_ are okay with, and once he finds out Scott’s not human he’s going to be upset, I can tell.”

“Is being precognitive an angel ability or are you actually just a pessimistic person?”

A primary feather came loose so Stiles set it aside. It was longer than the others and a very pretty brown-yellow with small speckled black dots, patterned sort of like a barn owl. Lydia’s wings were a lovely cerulean blue that faded into grey, giving her more color and flair compared to Stiles. Truthfully, Derek preferred Stiles’ wings to Lydia’s though.

 “No, but I wish Scott would listen to me for once and just tell the Argent’s the truth. If Chris Argent finds out on his own that Scott was lying to him he’s going to be really upset and any good will he felt towards Scott will disappear. I don’t know how Allison will react once she finds out but Lydia says she has that covered.”

Derek grunted. He could see where Stiles was coming from, sad to say he had firsthand knowledge of what it felt like when you found out someone you loved had been lying to you all through your relationship.

“I’ll talk to him…if you think it will help.” He didn’t want to tell Scott about his past, but if it would help Stiles and maybe stop another Kate Incident from happening then he’d do it. Maybe Scott needed a blast of reality in his little grand love story to get his head out of his ass.

Stiles smiled brightly at Derek, letting go of his smoothed out wings and gathering up the pile of molted feathers in his lap. “That would be nice, he probably needs to hear it from someone other than me for once and he listens to you.” Stiles dumped the pile of feathers in the trash. “Now, I’m going to fly over to Scott’s real quickly to make sure he’s okay but I’ll be back, leave the TV on for me?”

“Yeah sure, I got an early morning ahead of me. You want me to fold out the couch bed for you or are you staying up all night?”

Shifting from foot to foot the angel thought about it, his wings stretching out behind him and touching the wall as he flexed the muscles ready for flight. “Hmm, I think I’ll try sleeping tonight.”

“Okay. Good night.” Derek was incredulous at how willing he was to offer his home to the angel even though he complained about it earlier. While Stiles could be annoying- he got into these moods where he talked _all the time_ and he made horrible messes and didn’t know how to work any type of machine to save his life- he was a good guy. Angel. Whatever. If Derek couldn’t trust an angel in his house then there was something wrong.

With a small wave and a gust of wind, Stiles disappeared, leaving behind a strong musky smell where he’d just been. The flight between dimensions was quiet, Stiles’ wings hardly making a sound as he traveled straight to Scott’s.

Derek walked to the trashcan; reaching in and grabbing the large primary feather Stiles had thrown away and twirling it in his fingers.

An angel’s feather. It really was beautiful.

He carried it carefully upstairs and placed it gently between the pages of his photo album, next to the pictures of his niece. There was probably some power in the item but Derek really wanted to keep it as a token, a remembrance that he knew, had known, something of the divine. And also to remind him of Stiles, in case he really did ever return to Heaven.


	2. Seduction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek just couldn't resist.

In the morning Derek got up early for work, the sun barely breaking over the horizon, and after his late night yesterday he’s really glad it’s a half day and that means he’ll be off at noon. There’s a blue glow from the TV downstairs but no sound so Stiles must have figured out the mute button. Derek is just relieved that Stiles had returned last night.

Blurry eyed, Derek shuffled into the bathroom across the hall, turning on the shower and opening the cabinets to get a towel and not finding any. Reminding himself to do laundry later he heads to the linen closet, where all the extra nice towels he kept for his mother and sister when they visited were at, and instead he finds some kind of…nest, made out of towels, pillow cases, his grandmother’s quilt, and a few t-shirts.

Derek closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. It is too early to deal with this.

Pulling a towel from the pile he heads back into the bathroom.

***

“Hey, have a good night sleep?” Stiles chirps, up by the time Derek is dressed and downstairs, making breakfast. Sort of. If one considers pouring milk into a bowl of cereal part of ‘making’ breakfast but Stiles hasn’t figured out the toaster yet and is adamant about his dislike of poached eggs. Derek grunts happily anyways, just happy to have something to eat.

Stiles continues on; “So I was thinking…maybe we should go out tonight.”

Derek pauses, spoon halfway to his mouth. “Like what, a date?” He’s only kidding of course and expects Stiles to backtrack quickly, except Stiles doesn’t.

Stiles smiles at Derek like his 3rd grade teacher use to when Derek got an answer right in math. “Yeah, that’s a good idea! I can subtly suggest to Scott that Allison might like to go on a date and we can just ‘happen across them’. This will give you a chance to talk to Scott and I can distract Allison while you do it.”

Derek narrowed his eyes at the angel, wondering if Stiles was being deliberately ignorant. Either Stiles had just suggest that they go on a double date with _Scott and Allison_ or they were having two different conversations here. “Right, I’ll think about.”

“Please,” Stiles brought his hands together in a praying motion, batting his eyelashes at Derek. “It would mean a lot to me if you did this, I know you can talk to him at work anytime but I want to get this done soon and he’s not on shift with you today. Pleeeease?”

Derek picked up his empty bowl and dumped it in the sink, knowing that Stiles will probably do it later -by hand instead of using the perfectly good dish washer- if he got bored waiting around the house for Derek to get off work.

“Fine. I have to head in. You want me to stop back by to pick you up before we head to my mom’s or are you just going to teleport there?”

Stiles nibbles on the edge of his spoon, pink tongue flicking against the edge, and totally unaware of the moral dilemma he’s giving Derek just by doing that.

He gives Derek a beatific smile. “Hmm, yeah.”

Derek clears his throat, putting his hands in his scrub pockets. “Yeah, what?”

“Pick me up.” Stiles blinks up at Derek, his wings shifting against his back. Derek feels a sort of vindictive pleasure at the fact that they are messy again from Stiles’ nap, although it still only increases his desire to run his hands down them.

Derek makes for the door before he does something stupid. “Kay. I’ll be back around noon to pick you up. Be ready this time.”

Stiles rolls his eyes, pulling the spoon from his mouth with a loud ‘pop’. “Time is arbitrary to an angel but I’ll be ready, only so I don’t have to see you pout again. It was too adorable to bear last time.”

Derek grumbles as he heads out the door. He can’t help but wonder how this had become his life, putting up with a celestial angel with an attitude that he was pretty sure he had a bad bout of puppy love for.

***

“Mom, please, stop it.” Derek moans in humiliation, trying to get away from her as she chases him around the kitchen island. “Leave my hair alone.”

“Derek darling, it’s growing out of control. When was the last time you went to the salon?”

Derek barely resists rolling his eyes. “I don’t go to the hair salon, men go to the _barber_ and the last time I went was 4 weeks ago.”

Mrs. Hale looks her son over. “You take after your dad, a head full of hair that man had.”

Stiles smirks at Derek from the kitchen table, a bowl full of ice cream in front of him. Derek is starting to think the only reason Stiles stays on earth is to eat. “Does Derek have a hairy problem? I have noticed some heavy shedding on the furniture.”

Derek glares at the angel as his mom runs her fingers through his hair, chiding him about getting high lights to ‘lighten’ his complexion. Thankfully his aunt walks in, giving Stiles an anxious glance and scurries over to his mother with the cordless in her hands.

“Liz, Laura’s on the phone.”

“Oh, okay. Keep that thought boys, I’ll be right back.” Mrs. Hale gave Derek a pat and excused herself to the living room.

Derek’s aunt stood awkwardly in the kitchen with them, watching Stiles almost warily. “So… I heard you’re on earth to help our newest pack member?” She hedges.

Stiles swallows a spoon full of ice cream loudly. “Uh, yeah. Top secret though, I uh, can’t discuss it with the natives.”

Derek raises an eyebrow at that.

His aunt gives Derek a particular look. “Oh, so what does Derek have to do with it? I see you around him more often than I do the new boy.”

The wings on the back of the angel ruffle, drawing both pair of Hale eyes.

“He’s letting me stay with him,” Stiles answers curtly, getting their attention. “I can’t stay at the McCall’s house every day without drawing attention to the fact that I don’t actually live in Beacon Hills.”

Derek’s aunt nods, shooting Derek another odd look. “You don’t mind?”

Derek shrugs. “Not really, he cleans up while I’m at work.” He doesn’t mention the feathers he finds everywhere or the bizarre nest in the linen closet. His wolf is strangely okay with having the angel in his den, relaxed in a way that he’s never been with anyone else in his territory.

“That’s…nice.” His aunt quirks an eyebrow at him. “Well I have to head in to work, the hospital called and I need to fill in for someone’s shift.”

“Oh? I didn’t know you worked at the hospital?” Stiles asks, looking Derek’s aunt over with curiosity.  “Does everyone in the Hale pack have some kind of medical career? That’s very noble.”

That makes the older woman giggle, twisting a finger in her long red hair. “No, not everyone. I’m a nurse and Liz is a toxicologist at the medical center. Derek just takes care of animals, not people.” She elbows Derek with a smirk. “He’s not a people person and his bed-side manners are horrible.”

“I’ll be a vet when I finish my degree, and animals complain less than people do.” Derek’s heard it all before, coming from a family of doctors on his mom’s side, they like to go on about Derek getting a ‘useful’ job. His dad had been a forest ranger and his biological uncle an independent contractor before either of their deaths, giving them lots of free time and a good excuse to hide their lycanthropy. Derek was just lucky Dr. Deaton was so understanding about having a werewolf assistant _(two now, Derek reminded himself_ ) and he wouldn’t be able to keep his secret with the hours a medical doctor had.

Stile straightens up. “I think what Derek does is wonderful, all of God’s creatures deserve to be cared for from the smallest mouse to the largest whale and they shouldn’t be excluded from any help just because they are not _human_.” Stiles blushes when he catches Derek’s eyes. “It’s useful too right? Because you’re a werewolf and if something happens while one of you is changed he can fix it, unlike if you were human at the time of injury?”

Derek looks away, putting a hand over his mouth to hide his expression. He felt flattered that Stiles was sticking up for him.

“Yeah, you’re right. I mean, you’re the angel so you probably have more knowledge than anyone what’s best, and people’s destinies and… stuff.” Derek’s aunt looks uncomfortable again, hands fluttering around her pockets. Stiles frowns but doesn’t say anything.

“Right, I’m late now. Sorry boys, we’ll talk later?” His aunt gives Derek a kiss on the cheek and a wave to Stiles before quickly heading out, the front door slamming behind her.

“I don’t think she likes me.” Stiles says, licking his lips.

Derek takes a seat across from the angel, stealing his spoon and taking a bite of ice cream. “She’s nervous around you. She’s still upset about Uncle Peter’s death and I think she wants to question you about the afterlife and all those spiritual things.”

Stiles watches Derek eat from his bowl, totally unconcerned by the breach in personal space. “But I can’t. Answer her that is. I wouldn’t be able to tell her if I could because he’s not there.”

Derek drops the spoon from his limp hand and it clatters across the table. “Peters not in heaven?” He stops and thinks about it. “Oh,” Derek sits back in his chair, looking up towards the ceiling as he mulls it over. A werewolf probably wouldn’t go to heaven, if anything because of their tie to the supernatural they most likely have some designated spot in hell just for them, war hounds of the devil and all that drivel. And Peter had killed people, hunters and rival wolves, so that was another strike against him. That probably meant his father wasn’t in heaven either.

It was weird; Derek had never thought about were his soul would go after death. Now it was a depressing thought. If he ever wanted to become alpha he’d have to kill eventually and werewolves lived an increasingly dangerous life.

Derek blinks when he hears an odd noise. Straightening he looks at Stiles, whose feathers have poofed out more than half their original size.

“What the…?” Derek’s eyes widen in surprise.

Stiles is biting his lips so hard they strain white, he’s also sitting on his hands like he’s trying to keep them from reaching across the table and manhandling Derek.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. No? I guess? I can’t say anything I’m sorry,” Stiles warbles, looking frustrated with himself.

“No it’s fine. I’d rather not know anyways.” He wouldn’t either. Derek didn’t feel like getting in a spiritual debate with an angel and when it came right down to it he was better off not knowing. He just hopes his mom doesn’t ask Stiles a similar question about his dad. “What’s wrong with your wings anyways?”

“My what?” Stiles sits up straight and looks over his shoulders, making a strangled sounds when his sees his puffy appendages. “Oh gosh, this is so embarrassing.”

Derek laughs, Stiles’ fluster relaxing him. “You look ridiculous, like your trying to seem bigger than you already are.”

“I can’t help it.” Stiles wails, “They’re like the male human penis,”

Derek chokes on air.

“…they have a mind of their own! They’re more in tune with my emotions than I’m use to on this plane and I can’t control it.”

Derek starts to laugh and then can’t seem to stop. Every time he thinks he gets a hold of himself he looks up at catches Stiles flailing about or petting his wings, and he starts up again. He’s barely breathing when his mom walks back in, looking between them with a raised eyebrow.

“What’s the matter with you two?”

Derek opens his mouth to say something, catches Stiles panicked expression and starts laughing again.

“It’s best you probably don’t know Mrs. Hale.” Stiles concedes, giving Derek a glare.

***

Derek doesn’t know exactly why he does it. It’s only that as they’re leaving the house Stiles trips over a floor board on the porch and Derek reaches out to stop him, and ends up with a fist full of feathers instead. It would have been perfectly easy to grab Stiles elsewhere.

Stiles squawks, spine going rigid as Derek’s hands hold the angel up by the fuzzy underside of the axillaries where the wings meet human skin. Derek gasps softly, thumbs caressing the scaly skin and fingers tightening in the soft downy plume there at the base.

He slowly pulls Stiles back until his feet are flat on the ground, reluctantly letting Stiles go and hands fisting at his side. His hands tingles, like he’d been holding lightning or a live-wire. While he’d been expecting the smooth fluff of feathers there was a supernatural element to the wings, a power in the appendages that he hadn’t expected. It was like a surge of adrenalin had gone throughout his system at the touch. It gives Derek a shiver.

“You okay?”

Stiles looks at him over his shoulder, face completely red and mouth gaping open. Something about the expression and the fact that Derek put it there makes arousal flare up, causing Derek to lick his lips and eye the plump orifice.

“Y-you…” Stiles stutters, jaw snapping shut. He takes a heavy step away from Derek.

“Sorry,” Derek says, although he’s not. “I just didn’t want you to fall.”

Stiles winces.

“Thanks. I’m just going to check on Scott. I’ll meet you back at your apartment later?”

“Wait, Stiles-” Derek is cut off as Stiles disappears between a blink of his eyes. Derek stares out into the forest, unsure what to do now. Had he scared Stiles away? Had he done something that the angel wouldn’t forgive? He just…Derek didn’t know what he was thinking touching Stiles’ wings like that but he hadn’t been able to help himself.

The front door bangs open behind him. “Oh, good Derek, you’re still here.” Derek’s mother steps out onto the porch; a plate of cookies wrapped in cellophane is thrusts into his arms. “I made extras and wanted to give you and Stiles some. That angel is so cute; he has such a sweet tooth.”

Derek sighs. “Yeah.”

Liz raises an eyebrow and smirks at him. Derek thinks back on what she said and blushes.

“I mean, yeah he’ll like this. Thanks.”

His mother hip-bumps him. “They’re for you also.”

Derek smiles at her, leaning over and quickly kissing her cheek. “You’re the best.”

The older woman beams at him. “Go on. Get home before it gets too late and you take care of that boy. He doesn’t know how vulnerable he is here on earth.”

Derek is pretty sure that Stiles is the most powerful creature around Beacon Hills. “Okay, have a good night.”

With that Derek gives his mother a hug and hops into his car. He has a lot to think about on the drive home, plans to work out, apologies to make, and a decision to finalize. He just hopes he hasn’t scared Stiles off for good.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize if they seem a bit OOC, than again it's not really IC for Derek to be a happy person (yet! season 2 starts soon so who knows?). I just figured he's really intense, so Derek kind of goes full speed into any emotion he has, even love.

****

Derek makes it home and changes into something nicer by the time Stiles reappears in the living room, feathers still slightly poofy and a light blush staining his cheeks.

“You ready?” The angel asks as he looks Derek over. Derek pointedly runs a hand down his chest to emphasize the new crisp shirt. He had decided on the drive home to go all out in wooing Stiles, wearing his best clothes on the date, keeping to the best of his behavior no matter how annoyed he became, and if it came right down to it, explaining to Stiles that he was attracted to him.

Derek smirks when he catches Stiles eye. “Where are we going?”

Stiles coughs, turning quickly away to look around the room, anything but at Derek. “The aquarium. There’s some kind of exhibit that just opened up and Scott heard Allison talking about it.”

“That’s out of town.” Derek tries not to scowl. He doesn’t like leaving the Beacon Hills territory if he can help it, but even he can admit that going to the aquarium sounds like a good date. Better than going to a movie and sitting around in silence most of the night, and he hasn’t been to the aquarium since he was a child. He remembers he had liked the otters.

“Is it still okay to go?” Stiles eyebrows furrow and he looks concerned. “I can go alone if you don’t want to, but it kind of defeats the whole plan we made.”

“No. no. I’ll go, I just wasn’t expecting to drive so far, I’ll have to get gas before we leave.” Which begs the question, “How does Scott plan to get there?”

“Allison’s driving.” Stiles chirps, nervously running a hand down the inside of his wings. “I—if you want, I can take us. That way you don’t have to drive so far.”

Derek weighs the possibilities, on one hand Stiles could take them there without Derek having to spend a lot on gas and he’d finally get to experience what it was like to fly, or he could spend 45 minutes in a car alone with Stiles working on courting the angel? Tough choice.

“Actually,” Derek decides to be spontaneous. “I think I’d rather you take us. I’ve been wondering what it’s like to travel the way you do. It seems sort of neat, teleporting around like that, and you do it so quietly. I can always hear when Lydia flies, but I barely hear a whisper of feathers from you.”

Stiles blushes but instead of being uncomfortable he seems pleased, preening under Derek’s praise. “I _am_ a good flier.”

Derek claps his hands then rubs them together. “Good. You want to head there now? Get there early and have a look around before we have to follow Scott and Allison? Maybe even eat something?”

“Oh,” Stiles blinks. “Yeah, that would be nice.” The angel becomes flustered again, shifting on his feet while his wings twitch.

“Um…”

Derek looks at Stiles. “Well?”

“W-what?”

Derek sighs. “Aren’t we going?”

“Oh. Oh!” Stiles fidgets closer, sidling up to Derek as if he’s afraid Derek might bite.

The thought makes Derek smirk, which only makes Stiles look more aghast.

“I-I’m going to have to h-hold your hand. If that’s okay?”

Derek pointedly holds out his hand, palms up. Stiles hesitates for a split second before taking a huge breath and sliding his cooler fingers against Derek’s. There’s a shock that travels up Derek’s arm at the touch that reminds him of when he touched Stiles’ wings, making him tilt his head in wonder. What it is about Stiles that makes him so… electrifying to Derek?

Derek tightens his grip around Stiles’ hand, his higher body heat a distinction to Stiles’ cool temperature.

“Okay, now, take a deep breath and hold it for 3 seconds. I’ll count out loud,” Stiles tells him. He gives Derek hand what he guesses is a reassuring squeeze.

“One.”

And there’s nothing. Like someone sucked all of reality and space in through Derek’s bellybutton and a second later regurgitated them both back out somewhere completely new.

“Three!”

Derek is almost blinded by the reappearance of the sun, the salty smell of air, the crisp taste of certainty that he’s back on earth. He stumbles forward into a wall, his hand sweating in Stiles’ grip. He tries not to moan aloud.

“Derek? Are you okay?” Stiles looks him over, brows furrowed in concern. “I didn’t do anything. At least I don’t think I did. You’re the first human-er… earth creature?- that I’ve taken flying before, but Lydia informed me it was perfectly safe. Do you need to sit down?”

Derek is trying not to throw up.

“No,” His voice is gravely, teeth gritting tightly so he doesn’t hurl. “I’m fine. I just, I don’t think I can…” Stiles is biting his bottom lip and Derek just can’t tell Stiles that flying is obviously not something for him. He doesn’t care how careful Stiles is or how smooth a ride that was, he feels like he just went twenty rounds with a PMSing Laura who thinks any males in her vicinity is an enemy, even her brother, and she’s going to show them why having a dick is a bad decision. Not even his werewolf healing is helping. Stiles had broken something in Derek.“…smell.” He finishes lamely.

Stiles blinks in confusion. “What?”

Derek thinks quickly. “My senses are all out of whack. The scent of the sea and all the creatures around here are messing with my sinuses?”

“Oh. I’m sorry, I didn’t know something like that would happen.” Stiles nods like it makes complete sense and Derek feels only a little guilty about lying. And really, he’s not _really_ lying per say. His nose is itching from the sea salt in the air, and he can smell the aquatic life nearby. Sadly he can smell kelp close by and for some reason it makes his stomach roll and he has to hunch over when it cramps.

“Can we just, walk slowly, and maybe can we hold hands,” Derek asks pitifully. “I trust you and I don’t want to bump into things while my senses are so scrambled.”

“Of course, Derek!” Stiles dotes on him as they head around the corner and to the front of the aquarium, Derek pulling out his wallet to pay as the clerk smiles politely at them. Once they’re in the building, Stiles leads them to the least crowded corner, where it’s dark and the only light is illuminating a tank of jellyfish. There is also a bench, which Stiles pushes him onto.

“Sit. Meditate. Whatever you need to do to recalibrate.”

Derek smiles up at Stiles, pulling the angel down beside him, his wings barely brushing against Derek’s arm.

“I’m not a computer. I just need to get use to the new smells. If we drove it would have been gradual the closer we got,” Derek sees Stiles make a face and nudges him in the shoulder. “But since we didn’t I just need to center myself for a minute or two. I’ll be fine in a few minutes, stop worrying.”

The look Stiles gives him is tender and Derek doesn’t know what to say afterwards. Thankfully two small children run up to the jellyfish tank and kind of ruin their quiet little corner. Stiles perks up as he listens to the children read from the plaque, watching the jellyfish swim in their circular tank. Derek closes his eyes and leans his head back against the wall, Stiles hand still grasped in his own.

“I like them.” Stiles whispers to Derek once the children wander off.

“Who? The kids?” Derek blinks his eyes open. It makes sense to Derek, an angel liking children.

Stiles snorts, rolling his eyes at Derek like he can read his mind. “No. Well, actually yes, those kids were cute, that boy is a good older brother to the younger one, showing him how to read and all. I was talking about the Aurelia aurita.”

“The what?”

Stiles points at the jellyfish, and Derek finally really looks at them. They’re clear, bell shapes, and fluorescent under the light with four horseshoe shapes in the middle. A large group of them just drifting around in a circle in their tank all alone. It’s kind of hypnotizing in its simplicity. Derek had never really cared about seeing jellyfish before, mostly because they’d never seemed really interesting, but now that Stiles had pointed them out they were sort of fascinating.

“Huh.” Derek breathes; looking over and catching Stiles expression. The angel is totally taken with them, eyes intent.

“They’re old, 650 million years old, almost my age.” Stiles gives the creatures an odd look. “Did you know they also don’t have hearts?”

“Or brains, or skeletons.” Derek finishes for him, unsure what that comment meant. “Besides the age thing,”-which holy cow!- “I think we can rule out any similarities between you and a jellyfish, Stiles.”

Stiles gives Derek a deprecating smile. Unsure what to say, Derek just smiles crookedly back. Then they both turn back to watching the tank in silence.

Derek gives a huffing laugh when he reads the plaque. “They’re called the ‘moon jelly’. Funny.”

Stiles laughs along with him, whatever was bothering him earlier no longer so pressing. Stiles begins to opens his mouth to say something but stops abruptly when their corner is invaded by a family with a baby, and Derek has to turn his head away because the baby’s diaper is full and his nose burns just from the small whiff he got. Stiles stands and give his hand a tug, pulling Derek up and leading him away from the stinky diaper.

“Thanks,” Derek gasps out once they’re far enough away to breathe correctly.

“No problem.”

Derek doesn’t mind one bit when Stiles starts to swing their arms, the angel almost skipping to the next exhibit, one that promises eels. Now that his stomach has settled and his senses realigned, Derek’s pretty content to be dragged wherever Stiles likes, just as long as the angel is happy.

***

Stiles is half way through his sno-cone watching the manta ray feeding when he perks up and quickly turns to Derek.

“They’re here. Scott and Allison, I can feel him close by.”

Derek hunches over so he can whisper back, the small area they are in is packed full of people watching the feeding and everyone’s surprisingly quiet, mostly listening to the researcher who’s talking about the creatures in the tank. Their small space in the back against the wall was a good spot to watch everything without getting in the way of the children’s view and for Stiles to be comfortable with his wings. Derek liked it because it afforded them some amount of privacy.

“Do you want to follow them for a while or go find them right away?”

Stiles looks up at him, jerking his head back when he finds out how close together they are.

“I th-think, maybe l-later? I wanna finish watching this.”

Derek doesn’t move, staring straight into Stiles’ deep brown eyes. The glow from the aquarium illuminates the angel’s face, bringing out every unique feature of Stiles’ face from his moles to his long eyelashes, and it literally takes Derek’s breath away. Stiles looks right back at him, focus never wavering as he draws his wings closer to his body.

Derek can’t help but smirk, and Stiles’ breaks their stare-down to look at his lips when they move.

“You’re not even watching the fish,” Derek whispers.

They are so close he can feel the heat from Stiles’ exhale against his lips.

“Yeah, um.” Stiles licks his lips. “Fish, they’re--”

“Stiles--”

Derek is jostled from behind and if this was a romance book they probably would have ended up kissing right then but reality was bitch and instead Stiles’ forehead ended up knocking into Derek’s chin.

“Ouch,” Stiles whines.

Growling, Derek glared at the guy behind him while Stiles rubs his head.

 “Sorry,” Derek mutters, they shuffle around for a moment, getting situated. Stiles goes back to watching the manta rays as Derek pouts at the missed opportunity. Soon though the feeding’s over and people start to disperse.

“Come on,” Stiles tugs on Derek’s sleeve. “I can sense Scott’s over by the coral reef section.”

Derek let himself be led away, knowing that the good mood he’d cultivated will drastically plummet with the reminder of Kate. He understands why Stiles wants Derek to talk to Scott, if anyone would know what it felt like to be betrayed by someone he considered a trusted loved one, it would be Derek. If it wasn’t for his Uncle Peter discovering his tryst with Kate things could have gone vastly worse than they did. It was startlingly ironic that Scott was in love with Allison, Kate’s niece, it’s like the past repeating itself all over again.

Stiles pulls Derek behind a tank shaped like a pillar, peeking around the corner to see the young couple as Derek looks straight through the tank at Scott and Allison. The two were holding hands, pressing close against each other as Scott mimicked the silly faces of the fish, making Allison giggle. Derek couldn’t help rolling his eyes.

“Okay, here’s the thing,” Stiles tugs on Derek’s sleeve again. “I think we should just walk inconspicuously by and act surprised.”

Derek sighs, focusing on the colorful fish instead of the two teenagers they were stalking. “Stiles, I don’t think he’s going to fall for that as easily as you think. Didn’t you give him the idea for the date? He’s not dumb.”

Stiles turned back to Derek, his wings twitching. “Well, Allison won’t know. I don’t care what you say to Scott I just want to get this talk over with.” He looked up towards the ceiling, his eyes going distant and cocking his head to the side. “It’s almost time.”

Derek raised an eyebrow. “Time for what?”

“Never you mind.” Stiles shook his head. “I’ve worked too hard for their relationship to be destroyed because Scott’s too much of a pusillanimous.”

“A pusana-what?”

Stiles scowls at Derek. “Craven?”

“….” Derek feels a smile break across his face as he holds in his laughter.

“Lily livered?”

“Are you trying to say Scott’s a chicken?” Derek asks, hiding his smile behind his hand.

“Poultry?” Stiles’ wings puff up. “I don’t understand why poultry is considered cowardly, they are actually quiet fierce. Have you ever fought one? They have sharp claws and beaks.”

“No Stiles, I’ve never fought a chicken.” Derek tries not to laugh in Stiles’ face, but sometimes the angel is just weird. Stiles’ claims to have watch mankind for a long time and up-to-date on all the latest of American culture but some things still must stump him.

Stiles wrinkles his nose up at Derek. “Well, they are. Fierce, you know. Most winged creatures are.”

Derek nods for prosperities sake, not wanting to get into a debate about the ferocity of winged creatures with an angel. Out of the corner of his eyes he sees Scott and Allison head towards them, unaware that Stiles and he are there.

“Okay, here’s our chance.” Derek grabs Stiles’ hand and yanks him forward. Stiles stumbles, his wings flaring out as he staggers into Derek’s chest.

“Stiles!” Scott shouts, his voice tinged with irritation when he spots them.

Derek is too busy helping Stiles righten himself to scowl at the other werewolf. The angel looks flustered, looking between Derek’s chest and Scott with confusion, and the tips of his wings settle against Derek’s calf. The surge of energy Derek always feels with the contact makes him shiver.

“What are you two doing here?” Allison asks Derek, shooting Scott a bewildered look as the teen scowls at Stiles.

“We’re on a date.” Derek answers, one of his hands settling on Stiles’ lower back.

“Oh, really?” Allison seems more curious than suspicious, smiling pleasantly up at them. Derek doesn’t think he’s a mistrustful person by nature but Allison seems almost too good to be true, no matter what Stiles’ prophesies, she’s a hunter’s daughter and that automatically makes Derek wary.

“We are?” Stiles blinks up at Derek until Derek pinches his hip. “Oh, yeah! Scott gave me the idea, it’s just totally coincidental that we picked the same day.”

Scott snorts.

There’s an awkward few seconds where no one knows what to say to each other.

“So…I was thinking since you’re here and all,” Stiles stutters. “Allison, I need your help with something?”

“Okay?”

“Um,” Stiles is sweating, either nervous or tense about lying to the girl. Derek runs a calming hand down the angel’s spine, making his wings twitch. “I need advice, in the gift shop, alone please.”

“Oh!” Allison gives Derek a teasing look and Derek stares deadpanned back. That was by far the worst excuse to get Allison alone that Derek has ever heard, but it seems to do the job. Allison gives Scott a quick peck and following the angel to the shop nearby.

Scott makes a move to follow but Derek snags his collar. “Not too fast, you and I have to talk.”

Scott struggles until Derek lets go. “Derek.” He growls, eyes flashing gold.

“Don’t.” Derek orders, his own eyes flashing blue. “Come on, follow me. I want to get this over with quickly.”

They head towards an area sectioned off for seating. Since it wasn’t near any aquariums there were no one around and they were left alone to talk.

“Sit.” Derek pushes Scott down on one side of the table and takes a seat across from him. Derek takes a deep breath to prepare himself. He doesn’t talk about his past, doesn’t like to share it with others, but Stiles said it was important, so he’s going to at least try.

“You know I don’t approve of you dating Allison, especially because of what her father is, but-and I mean but- if you want your relationship to work you can’t lie to her.”

“I’m not!” Scott squeaks, Derek cuts him off with a glare.

“Listen, I don’t like to repeat myself. Think for a moment like you were in her shoes. If you didn’t know she was a hunter but she knew you were a werewolf and still dated you, how would you feel when you eventually found out?”

Scott grumbles, looking towards the gift shop with pitiful eyes. “But she’s not a hunter. I pretty sure she doesn’t even know what her family does.”

“I don’t think she does either.” Derek concedes. “But we aren’t talking about what Allison is or not right now, we’re talking about you lying to her.” Scott glares at Derek. “If you want this relationship to last as long as Stiles predicts, you can’t keep lying to her like this, because she’ll eventually find out and she’ll be hurt that you betrayed her like that, and that kind of hurt will last for a long time.”

Derek pauses, closing his eyes to gather the courage to talk about something he hasn’t talked about ever. Voluntarily.  To anyone except the one time to Peter, who forced it out of him when he caught him with Kate. “Take it from me, from someone’s who’s been in her place before, people don’t heal from that kind of betrayal, not in the way normal people do.”

“Yeah?” Scott actually looks contrite.

“Yes.” Scott expression gives Derek that extra push he needs, because looking at Scott reminds him how he was at that age. Amazed by the new grown up world he was just entering and excited to try everything as fast as he could, to fall headlong into anything he could. “I-I use to see Allison’s aunt Kate when I was about your age, and I thought we were something special, mostly because she wasn’t scared by any of my werewolf traits. Except I had no idea it was because she was a hunter. She was just using me, trying to find a way to get close to my family so she could hurt them, and if it wasn’t for my Uncle Peter finding out about our secret affair things could have gone really bad.”

Scott’s gaping at him. “Allison’s aunt is like, oh my god, in her late 30’s!”

Derek rolls his eyes. “Yes, I know that.”

“She, like, rape! Statutory rape! You were 16 and she had to be in her late 20’s around them.”

Grunting, Derek motioned for Scott to pipe down; people were sending them odd looks as Scott floundered over his revelation.

“I know that. Look, that’s not the issue right now that we need to focus on. What I’m trying to relate to you is that it’s in your best interest to tell Allison the truth before she finds out on her own by accident or a member of her _hunter_ family tells her. Relationships cannot be built on lies, she’ll appreciate the truth coming from you more than anyone else and there’s a good chance her reaction to the news that you’re a werewolf won’t be as bad as you imagine.”

“Oh man, is that why you have trust issues? Because Allison’s aunt broke your totally illegal juvenile heart in a bid to kill off your family or something?”

Derek winces.

“Pretty much.”

“Dude.” Scott continues to gape at Derek. Derek wonders if the point he was trying to make made it across or if Scott’s still hung up on that fact that Derek dated Allison’s older aunt when he was just a teen.

“Scott.” Derek says steadily and Scott’s jaw snaps close. “I mean it, tell her the truth. I’m the one tell you this, and usually I’d tear your head off your body just for even _thinking_ of telling anyone our secret, but Stiles say’s it important. Important to you, to Allison, and to us werewolves. He’s an angel and I trust him, and I think it’s about time you start trusting his advice also.”

The younger werewolf seems to wilt a bit. “But it’s so hard. I don’t want her to get mad at me for lying to her this long.”

Teenage logic. Derek runs a hand down his face in frustration. “It’s only going to get worse the longer you wait.” Derek sighs. “Just tell her I told you you couldn’t say anything until now. Technically you’re not lying.”

Scott perks up. “Really? You think she’d believe that?”

“Maybe. Just tell her, please, I’m tired of Stiles coming around to pout about it while you’re at school.”

“He pouts at your house too?” Scott smiles at Derek like they’re in some kind of secret Stiles-bugs-us-to-death club and that Derek doesn’t really like the attention he gets from the angel while Scott’s not around. “He’s like the genie from Aladdin or something.”

Derek groans. “Seriously? I could have used a Disney analogy this whole time,” He asks the ceiling in exasperation. Out of the corner of his eye he spots Stiles and Allison heading their way, Stiles arms stuffed with something fluffy. Derek whirls around to points at Scott. “Homework: think about the plot to Aladdin and apply it to your life. Don’t be stupid though and let things get that bad where evil sorcerers take over a kingdom because I don’t think you’re half as smart as the main character is to fixing things.”

“Hey!” Scott scowls. “Wait, what?”

He waits until the other two are close enough to hear and puts a hand on Scott’s shoulder. “I give you my permission.”

“What?” Scoot looks bewildered.

“Permission for what?” Allison asks innocently, her hand slipping into Scotts as she takes the seat beside him. Stiles kind of stands there trying not to loom over them, a peculiar look on his face and wings twitching in agitation.

Derek gives Allison what he hopes is a kind smile and not one full of sharp teeth. “Well, Stiles and I have a show to catch, hope you don’t mind if we split up here?”

“No, no, that’s fine.” Allison gives Derek a warmhearted smile. “I hope you two enjoy the rest of your date.”

Standing, Derek puts a hand on Stiles’ back and leads him away. “Have fun also.”

“Uh…see you later Scott? Allison thanks for the help.” Stiles throws over his shoulder, wiggling back against Derek’s hand until Derek winds his whole arm around the angel’s waist, the underside of Stiles’ wings brushing against his arm. “Why are we leaving so soon?” Stiles hisses under his breath.

“Because Scott’s not going to do anything with us hovering around them,” Derek whispers back, even though they’ve merged back in with the crowd and Scott probably wouldn’t be able to pick them out.

“Oh,” Stiles says, arms clutching tightly around the stuffed animal in his arms. It isn’t until they’re standing in front of the seahorse tank that Derek brings up the item.

“Why’d you buy that?” Derek also wonders where Stiles got the money but doesn’t ask.

“Hmm,” Stiles blinks heavily up at him. “Oh, um, I bought it for you actually. A gift, for our first ‘date’, or at least that’s what I told Allison.”

Derek smiles, his hand tightens against the jut of Stiles’ hip. “You didn’t have to; in fact I had planned to buy you something before we left.”

“Oh.” Stiles buries his face into the fake fur, nuzzling it. “I just… I wanted to give it to you, because you’ve been so nice to me when you didn’t have to and you’ve done so much. Isn’t it a custom for humans to exchange gifts to show gratitude?”

“Yeah, I guess it is.” Smiling happily, Derek pulls the angel towards the next exhibit. He really isn’t a stuffed animal guy _at all_ , but Derek’s willing to make the exception for Stiles, no matter the shit he’ll get from Laura once she finds out.  He looks the plushy over in Stiles arms. “How’d you know I like sea otters?”

Smirking up at him, Stiles leans more into Derek’s shoulder. “I could tell when we were watching them, you hardly looked away.”

“Yeah?” Derek laughs, his joy mostly from the fact that Stiles seems totally unconcerned that his wings are now constantly touching Derek.

Nodding Stiles follows along silently beside Derek as they peruse the rest of the aquarium, watching some shows and staring with fascination at the creatures in the tanks, never once complaining about how close he and Derek are, Derek keeping his arm mostly around Stiles’ waist and then holding hands when they headed out of the aquarium.

Derek didn’t think he’s ever smiled so much in life, happy elation running through his veins as he holds Stiles close. They loiter around the pier nearby, just taking in the beach and wide open ocean. Looking out over the sea, taking in the setting sun and rolling waves, Derek decides there’s never going to be a better time than now.

“Stiles,” Derek begins, turning towards the angel who’s staring off towards the sunset, his skin practically glowing. The evening sun’s rays shine off the white and brown feathers of Stiles wings and make it look like they’re on fire, literally taking Derek’s breath away as he takes in the angel’s appearance.

Blinking lazily, Stiles turns slowly towards Derek, a content smile on his face.

“Hmm?”

“Wow,” Derek breaths. Stiles eyes glow bright amber in the sun, and Derek has to bite the inside of his cheek to stop the adulation from flowing from his mouth like he’s a 12 year old with his first crush. Stiles has never looked more ethereal then he does at this moment. “I can’t, wait, no. I’m trying to say…” Derek furrows his brows, attempting to get his thoughts in order, frustrated that Stiles has shaken him up this much by just standing there doing nothing.

Stiles laughs, tugging on Derek’s hand and cocking his head to the side as he looked the werewolf over. He pauses for a second when he gets to Derek’s chest, staring intently at where Derek is sure his heart is beating so loudly the humans around them could hear. His shoulders relax and Derek watches with bated breath as Stiles wings do a weird movement like he’s preening.

“Oh… you’re in love with me,” Stiles gasps.

And then the bottom drop out of Derek’s stomach.

 

 


	4. Love and Hate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: captivity and mentions of off screen torture; not discriptive.

 

***

Stiles stares gob smacked at Derek for about 20 seconds before blinking in surprise and disappearing in a puff of feathers.

Derek was stunned.

Had Stiles just disappeared because he found out about Derek’s feelings for him? That wasn’t exactly the reaction Derek was hoping for.

Growling in frustration, Derek ran a hand through his hair and down his face. He felt so stupid, falling in love with an angel. Even though there were signs all day that maybe Stiles felt something for Derek, maybe he’d just interpreted them wrong? What did he really know about Stiles? Absolutely nothing. He was another species all together so maybe the knowledge of Derek, a werewolf, falling for him was so disgusting that he just had to get away to hide his revulsion. To Stiles is was probably like finding out a stray mutt wanted to hump his leg.

Leaning over the guard rail to the boardwalk, Derek looked out over the ocean and bemoaned his stupidity.

He was such an idiot.

Sitting there he covered his head with his arms while his stomach tried to settle down.

At least Stiles had disappeared before Derek could have seen the revulsion on his face.

 It also didn’t help that if Stiles really had left him there, that Derek had no way of getting home, because Stiles was technically his ‘ride’.

***

Derek had to get a ride home with Allison and Scott. Scott looking oddly perturbed and confused when Derek told him that Stiles had to leave suddenly, and Allison cooing at Derek like he was some poor lost little lamb.

It pretty much made his day even shitter than it already was.

***

For three days Derek neither saw hide nor feather of Stiles, and truthfully he wasn’t all that upset about it. No, far be it for Derek to hold a grudge against someone because they didn’t like him, otherwise half the population of Beacon Hills would be in trouble. It was just somewhat upsetting that Stiles hadn’t come back to at least try to salvage a relationship with Derek, if they couldn’t work out as a couple Derek would settle for being friends, even acquaintances. They’d gone this long with no problems and Derek was sort of disappointed that _he_ was the one to ruin what they already had, but still. Just goes to show that Derek obviously hadn’t read things right with Stiles, otherwise he wouldn’t have been too stupid to even try.

Just as he was packing up to leave work for the day, Scott cornered him in the small employee locker room.

“Have you seen Stiles?”

“Not really.” Derek didn’t even look up from packing his bag, stuffing his extra clothes and a few items he’d left behind earlier this week into it until it was almost too full to zip up. “And I don’t see how it’s any of my business since he’s your angel.”

Scott stuck close, tailing him as he headed towards the exit. “Yeah but see here’s the thing, I haven’t seen him since the aquarium. You were the last one to see him.”

Shrugging, Derek slams the back exit door open. “So?” He had expected something from Scott regarding Stiles since the ‘date’ and his agitation had only grown the longer the situation wasn’t mentioned. Now he just felt angry, his denial and Stiles’ rejection boiling over in self revulsion and annoyance. Derek only felt a tad awful about taking it out on Scott and the others around him and yesterday he’d snapped at Laura on the phone until she hung up on him in disgust, but he just couldn’t find it in himself to care. He wanted to be alone, to lick his wounds in peace like a wounded animal.

“I’m worried.” Scott pauses at the door. “He won’t answer my summons or even come when I pray. He’s never done that before, he’s always answered when I called.”

Derek unlocked his car and tossed his bag into the back seat. “So?” He asked again, aggravated that Scott would even bothering asking him where Stiles would be. He wasn’t the angel’s keeper.

“It’s just… I have a bad feeling, and if you haven’t seen him then I know something’s wrong. Just tell me if you’ve seen him or not?” Scott pleaded.

“I haven’t.” Derek grunted, sliding into his car with a grace he didn’t feel. He had sort of hoped that work would keep his mind off Stiles and his humiliation confession (of sorts). He’d picked up some extra hours with Dr. Deaton just so he could avoid his apartment. Every little thing reminded him of the angel, his couch, TV, even his toaster that no longer worked after Stiles had messed with it. There was always the chance that Stiles might stop back by, so Derek had left the linen closet alone, but everything else was fair game. It didn’t help that Derek was still finding feathers around the house even after he’d vacuumed most of the floors, but it was like Stiles had infested the place. He’d find feathers in his cereal or in his shower and he’d just get angry with himself all over again.

Derek rolls down his window because Scott is still standing there looking lost. “You ever think that maybe he went back home? His mission is done so what’s the use of him being here?”

Scott shifts and looks guiltily away. Derek groans internally.

“You did tell her right?”

“I couldn’t!” Scott squawks. “I was going to talk to her on the ride home but you were there being all awkward and grumpy, so the mood wasn’t right.”

Derek grips the steering wheel tightly, trying not to transform in the parking lot of his work place because of Scott’s stupid adolescent love life. “You’re an idiot. A fucking idiot.”

“Hey!” Scott looks wounded by Derek’s words, but the other werewolf is so pissed he can barely see straight.  

Scott nervously scratches at the back of his neck. “You know, Stiles wouldn’t even have been finished with his mission even if I did tell her. He told me he has to stick around until I’m like 40 or something? He was very vague on the details but telling Allison was only a small part of it.”

“A small part that you haven’t done,” Derek growls through gritted teeth. “You know, you’re not even my problem and Stiles _definitely_ isn’t my problem, you’re only part of my mother’s pack by proxy because a rouge alpha bit you so if there’s anything you need, go to her from now on because I’m out. I’m done with this shit.”

Scott’s jaw drops. “B-but, Stiles!”

Derek put the car in reverse and glared at the beta wolf.  “Call Lydia!”

With that last parting shot Derek rolls up his window and peels out of the parking lot, leaving Scott standing there alone.

***

Unsurprisingly, Derek had a fitful time getting to sleep that night. He’d paced the living room and kitchen for hours after leaving work, frustrated with himself and everyone else, wondering if he should just throw everything away that reminded him of Stiles or just move out of his apartment complex completely. It wasn’t until the early hours of the morning that he’d been able to settle down enough to even lay down, and his sleeping was so disturbed that he was getting a headache.

He was actually awake when Lydia appeared in his bed room brandishing a flaming sword at his throat.

“Where is he, mongrel.” Her tone was grave, deeper and accented with a lilt he’d never heard before.

Derek was frozen in fear for what was probably the second time in his entire life. The red headed angel was covered in intricate detailed gold and silver armor, her blue-green wings flaring out behind her and up towards the ceiling. She seemed eight feet tall and didn’t look a bit hesitant to run Derek through with her sword.

“W-who?”

“Genim, first hatchling of the angel Urim, you mortals refer to him as Stiles in this realm. Now tell me where you have secreted him away or I will eviscerate you.” As if to prove her point she edged the flaming steel closer, the heat from the flames seemed to burn Derek’s skin by proximity and already his face was sweating. He tries to edge back in his bed but she kept the sword unerringly close.  

“I don’t have him,” Derek gasps out. “I haven’t seen him in almost four days.”

Lydia sneers at him. “That sounds about how long he’s been missing.”

“No really!” Derek looks up at the looming angel. “We were talking on the beach and he disappeared. Poof! Gone! I figured he was upset so that’s why he’s been staying away?”

The sword inched back as Lydia looked him over. The wolf in Derek wouldn’t meet her eyes, it knew that this creature in front of him was more dangerous than any he’d encountered before. It was somewhat illuminating actually seeing an angel in full power (or what he guessed was full powered).

“You tell no lie.” Lydia says after a minute of observation. “We are unable to contact him and he is not in his nest in Heaven. Stiles has vanished and you were the last to have contact with him.”

Derek watches warily as she seethed her sword, sitting up slowly in bed. “So everyone keeps saying.”

Lydia glares at him. “What did you say about him being upset?”

Derek really didn’t feel like going into detail, but she had a flaming sword. “We were talking on the wharf a few days ago, a personal conversation, and he found out something about me. He got upset and left. That’s the last I heard or saw him.”

Lydia picks up one of Stiles’ feathers off his carpet and twirled it between her fingers. “Personal conversation?”

“Between me and him.” Derek grunts out.

Rolling her eyes she purses her lips and blew the feather into the air. “I can speculate this conversation was about your obtuse feelings for each other?”

Derek tosses the covers and stands up, heading towards his closet for a t-shirt and conveniently as far from the angel as he could get in the small room. “No.”

“Now you’re lying.” Lydia’s voice was back to its usual cadence, her flirty playful tone she used to pretend to be a high school student.

“No I’m not.” Derek mumbles as he puts on the shirt. “The feelings were decidedly one sided on my part.”

“Oh please,” Lydia put her hands on her armored hips. “Like he hasn’t practically made his nest here, he’s about a few rights away from bonding your soul to his grace.”

Derek drops the hanger as his hands went numb. “What?!”

Lydia waves his question away. “No matter, you two can discuss this once he is found. Right now we have to worry about where his is and if someone has bound him to a certain location.”

Derek shakes himself from his thoughts about Stiles and the angel’s nest in his closet. “Can you do that? I mean, bind an angel to a place?”

“Yes. With just a feather one can summon the angel and then with a spell bind them,” Lydia looks pointedly at the few feathers littering his floor. Derek motions for her to ‘have at them’. She continues on, “But it is horribly immoral and can kill both the human who bound him and damage Stiles irrevocably so time is of the essence here, he’s already been captive for four days.”

Derek’s eyes widen as he takes that in. He might be upset with Stiles but he’d never wish the angel hurt in any way. He looks around the room to avoid Lydia’s eyes and catches site of a small cluster of feather behind his door. “There’s plenty here. Feather’s I mean, if you need them.”

“So I see,” Lydia raises a perfectly sculpt eyebrow at him. “Except these small molting feathers are just lesser fragments of a small shred of Stiles’ essence. Do you have anything larger? Something he might have given you, plucked out of his wing and not something he shed?”

Derek thought about the large primary feather Stiles had tried to throw away and that Derek had snuck out of the trash. Walking over to the bookshelf he pulls the photo album out and finds just what he’s looking for right away. He holds the large brown and white feather out to her.

“Like this?”

Lydia smiles. “That’s perfect.”

***

Lydia kicks Derek out of his room to perform the spell, so Derek is left again pacing his hallways. Not long after he’s kicked out Scott show up, walking right into Derek’s apartment and glancing worriedly around like Derek’s the one keeping Stiles’ hidden.

“Do you think he’s okay?”

Derek stops, glancing towards the beta as the younger teen chews on his fingernails.

“I don’t know.”

I just- I feel horrible for not noticing sooner, ya know?” Scott looks up at Derek from the couch, looking totally miserable. “I’m sorry, this is all my fault.”

Derek growls. “No it’s not. It’s mine.” Derek thought about how much time he wasted, pouting and sulking around his apartment while Stiles’ was held captive. He was so stupid, he should have noticed something odd. He knew Stiles better than that, he wouldn’t have stayed away even if Derek’s feelings had made things awkward between them. The angel would have at least returned for some of his stuff he’d squirreled away.

“No. This happened because of me.” Derek answeres. Both werewolves look towards Derek’s bedroom door when a bright light flashed under the door. There was a heavy smell of sulfur and ozone in the air, and the lights dimmed. The creepiest thing though was that neither of them could hear anything from inside the room. Not a peep, word, or shuffle but there was obvious movement inside from the shadows and Derek figures that spell casting or whatever she’s doing requires words at least.

“I hope he’s okay.” Scott says softly, bring Derek’s attention back towards him.

Derek nods.

It took a while and what felt like a millennia of waiting, Lydia threw the door open and storms towards them, Scott jumping up off the couch and standing next to Derek.

“Did you find--”

“No time.” Lydia cut Scott off, manhandling Derek by his shirt sleeve and grabbing Scott’s wrist in her other hand, she teleports them away.

“Shit.” Derek moans, clutching at his stomach as he’s drops to the forest floor. Lydia ignored the two moaning werewolves as she brandished her sword again, the flames lighting up the area around them.

Scott looks around, confusion clear on his face. “Are we still in Beacon Hills?”

Derek glances around, squinting at the forest around them. It looks familiar, it’s not a place he sees regularly but it smells like the forest close to his parent’s house.

“I think so.”

Lydia gives them both a critical look. “Will either of you be help to me or should I leave you here to recover?”

Derek sucks in a breath and stands, pulling every ounce of courage and determination he has to dampen the nausea he got from the flight. “No, I’m good. Lead the way.” Scott stumbles after them, heading deeper into the forest as Lydia leads the way.

It isn’t until they come to an abandoned cabin at the very edge of the Hale territory that the hairs on the back of Derek’s neck start to stand up. Scott moves closer, nearly tripping over Derek’s ankles.

“This is really freaky.” Scott whispers, there’s something eerie about the cabin, like…Derek can’t explain. The very trees around the place are bare and dry, shrubs withered and the grass dead, the whole place smells like Death, except it can’t be, it’s still spring. Derek doesn’t like the idea of Stiles being in a place that smells like death.

Lydia stops suddenly, motioning them away. “Stand back.” She orders, then sweeps her sword over her head and stabs it in the ground. There is a shrieking yell and a gust of strong wind, then like broken glass the cabin falls into itself, dust flying into the air and debris crumbling around the place.

Scott coughs, “Oh great. Kill Stiles before we can even save him, great idea!”

Lydia rolls her eyes, the flames from her sword licking at her gloved hands. With a twist of her sword the very earth cracks open, a small jagged line until it reaches the cabin and is wide enough to swallow the broken debris. It all falls inside the hallowed ground even the smoke is sucked away like there’s a black hole, leaving a gabbing hole in the earth where the cabin once was.

“It was spell, keeping us away and out of the cabin. If we’d somehow made it past and walked in it would have fallen in on us.” Lydia pulls her sword out of the ground. “Stiles is being kept underground.”

Derek hardly waits for her to finish explaining before he’s heading down the hole. He can see a distant flicker of light down the tunnel. The dread and anxiety of what he might find boil in his stomach, but he needs to be strong, needs to be ready to lend a hand and not shy away, because Stiles’ needs him and he might not be able to wait for Derek to get it together. Scott loops after him, Lydia bringing up the rear as her wings flare out behind her.

Turning a sharp corner Derek runs headlong into someone soft. He already has his claws around their neck and snarling when he catches a glimpse of their face.

“Aunt Jen?” Derek drops her, startling back until his shoulders connects with the dirt wall of the tunnel.

His aunt looks wildly around, see’s Scott and smiles in delight then catches sight of Lydia and shrinks back in horror.

“There’s two of them?” She hunches over, scuttling back towards the part of the tunnel she’d come from, the dirt wall crumbling under her twisted fingers. “I didn’t know, oh why- there’s more than one. Stay away! You can’t have him!” She flings a handful of dirt and beats it back towards the light. Derek takes a moment to get over his shock before he’s following Scott after his aunt, the dirt hardly hampering his vision.

Derek doesn’t even pause to look at Stiles when they get to the main chamber, he is only visually aware that the angel is there but he’s more focused on getting to his hysterical aunt. He wants to neutralize her as a threat before he treats whatever damage she’s done to Stiles. To stop her from doing worse. And it’s a good thing too because she has a large tome in her hands and is chanting when Derek get’s to her.

“Stop it! Jen!” Derek swipes the book out of her hands. She startles, squeaks, and trips over her feet into a decrepit desk behind her. She falls over on her knees, her bright red hair falling ragged around her face.

She’s still muttering though.

There’s a whimper behind him, and Derek knows its Stiles.

“Stop it, you’re hurting him.” Derek lunges at her and covers her mouth, his claws scratching at her soft cheeks and she screams. He’s able to get her into a headlock and immobilize her where she isn’t hurting him or herself. She struggles against his hold, only she’s not a werewolf just married to one before his death, and Derek is able to hold her easily until she stops struggling. She slumps futilely in his arms whimpering against the palm of his hand as tear’s track down her muddy face.

Once he has her pinned he’s able to assess the situation behind him. With overwhelming dismay he see’s Stiles, what his Aunt has done to him. While he’s confused about why his aunt of all people would capture Stiles, he feels an overwhelming rage for what she has done.

Scott is crouched in front of the kneeling angel. Stiles is held up by gold chains around his wrist, arms spread eagle out beside him, his head is down and his wings are drooping behind him, there’s also a scattering of small black frosted feathers around the angel.

“Stiles? Hey buddy,” Scott whispers, reaching forward and petting Stiles gently on the head.

The angel moans, blinking heavy eyelids up at the beta.

“He’s weak.” Lydia stands over the two of them. “The binding is draining him. We need to cut him loose and get him back to his nest.” Lydia easily cuts the chains with her sword and Stiles falls forward onto his hands and knees.

“Will he…will he be okay?” Derek asks, holding his aunt. If it wasn’t for her he’d be over there, with Stiles, helping him up instead of Scott because the angel is too weak to even stand.

Lydia glares towards them, her rage more directed towards his aunt then Derek. “I don’t know. I can’t tell what she has done.” Lydia kicks at the black feathers. “She’s tainted him.”

Derek watches with remorse as Stiles stumbles over his wing, almost tumbling into the wall half blind until Scott scoops him into his arms. “Shh…” The beta whispers, softly smoothing his hand down Stiles’ back. Lydia tucks close behind them, running glowing fingers down Stiles’ forehead and cheeks.

Derek’s aunt Jen gives a distressing whimper.

“We need to separate them,” Lydia orders. “Give him to me Scott, I’ll take him somewhere he can heal. Go with Derek, deal with this…human.”

Lydia hefts Stiles into her arms, his wings hanging limply behind him. Derek can see bald spots where Stiles is missing feathers, burnt patches of blackened skin, red welts of infected pores. The werewolf can barely hold the snarl back, arms tightening around his aunt’s neck.

There’s a whoosh of displaced air and the two angels are gone. The whole cavern around them dims, the small oil lamp flickers and the feathers scatter.

“Shit.” Scott swears.

***

Derek leaves his aunt Jen in his mothers care. Well, care wouldn’t be the right word to use once the alpha female found out what she’d done. Violating and torturing an angel in an attempt to bring her dead husband back. Derek hadn’t stuck around to see what her punishment was, if he had he would have killed her. Wouldn’t even have thought about it, just tore her throat out and left her body for the crows. Thankfully, his family doesn’t try to make him talk about it. They listen to Scott as he gives the details, explaining the situation they walked in on, the information they could gather while Derek’s aunt rambled conspiracy theories the whole way back to the Hale house.

Derek misses Stiles.

Wants to smell him, roll in a bed of feathers left around the house, lick the angel’s wounds, and kill anyone who so much as gets close to him again. It drives him absolutely mad, not hearing anything from Lydia about Stiles’ recovery. He paces the apartment, growls at the irritating customers who drop Fluffy or Fido at the vet, and is an all around bastard to anyone who get’s near. The only one who doesn’t approach him cautiously is Scott and Derek only allows this because Scott will tell him how Stiles looked when they’d found him.

He’s sitting in his living room on the couch, the same couch Stiles sometimes slept on not too long ago, with the TV on mute and broods. Angry with himself, angry with his aunt, even angry at Stiles for letting himself get taken like that. Wasn’t the angel suppose to have amazing powers that could prevent what happened from happening? What was the use of having power if it wasn’t used to protect yourself or others? It just didn’t make sense to Derek.

“Hey.” A voice says from behind him, wispy and choked.

Derek turns quickly, somehow surprising himself by how fast he stands up he teeters for a moment on steady ground.

“Stiles…”

The angel smiles crookedly at him, one hand rubbing down his arm as he shifts from foot to foot. “Derek, I just…”

“Stiles.” Derek repeats, almost vaulting over the couch to get to him. “Stiles. Are you okay?” Derek runs a gentle hands down Stiles shoulders and side, looking for obvious injures he might still have. “You were, I mean, I saw--”

“I’m okay.” Stiles cuts him off. “I’m all healed up. Nothing permanent.”

“But,” Derek looks Stiles in the eye, those warm brown orbs that sparkle with an eternity of knowledge. He’s at a loss really. Doesn’t know what to say, where to start, how to finish, he’s only just happy and anxious that Stiles is back and he looks whole.

Stiles’ smile morphs from furtive to cautious, wings rustling against each other behind his back. “I’m sorry.”

Derek takes one of Stiles hands and holds it to his nose, his lips barely brushing the palm of the angel’s hand. Stiles smell sweet and crisp, like candy and a perfect morning sunrise all rolled into one. “What for?”

“I never got to saying what I wanted to, that day. I hurt you.”

Derek knows his eyes are glowing blue, angry with himself for letting Stiles be taken away from him, right in front of him, and never knowing. He doesn’t think the memory will ever make him anything but angry from now on. “I don’t, no. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have let that happen.”

Stiles’ hand not currently in Derek’s grip runs the length of his chin, soft fingers scratching lightly at Derek’s rough stubble. “Don’t. Blame yourself.” Stiles looks quickly over Derek with an assessing gaze. “You wouldn’t have known. You weren’t suppose to, she made sure of that.”

“She was my aunt. She met you through me. If I had only kept you away,” Derek began. “It’s my fault.”

Stiles pulls Derek’s head down, their foreheads knocking together. “No, I think this was always suppose to happen. Another story, besides Scott’s? A tribulation to remind me that even I am not unfathomable. Life works in mysterious ways, Derek. Now please, let me finish what you started.”

Sometimes talking to Stiles made him feel like they were having two totally different conversations, but now, he was just happy _to be_ talking to Stiles. Derek shut his eyes tightly, breathing in the scent of Stiles as deeply as he could. Wanting always to remember how he smelt here and now, so close and safe, a creature of heaven unafraid in the arms of a beast.

“Derek,” Stiles cups the werewolf’s cheeks, forcing Derek to look him in the eyes. “I do too. I’ve always loved you, since the moment I saw you.”

Derek sucked in a lung full of air, feeling like he was about to explode.

Stiles continued on, “I was afraid though, I did everything I could to fool myself into thinking you were already mine except tell you of my feelings. I thought I’d have time. I didn’t want you to be scared of me, of what I am. I’ve seen it happen before, angels who fall in love with mortals only to have their hearts crushed when the truth is revealed, their love rejected because it’s not believed we have the ability to love like that. But when your aunt had me down there, the things she said, the things she did,” Here Stiles shivers and Derek brings him close, wrapping an arm around the angel, fingers carding through downy feathers. “I thought I might die. It was a possibility.”

Derek growls, wondering if it’s too late to go back home and deal with Jen himself.

“You have to understand, I thought I’d have forever to sway you to my side.” Stiles pleads. “To convince you, but she just reminded me that I didn’t. You’re mortal, and down here on Earth I’m as close to mortal as I can be, and if I don’t tell you now I might never get a chance to again.”

Derek presses a gentle kiss against Stiles cheek, nuzzling the underside of the angel’s ear. “I get it. I do.” Derek gasps.

“Please,” Stiles whines, looping his arms around Derek’s neck. “Be mine, always be mine. I won’t leave you ever if you say so, I’ll take you with me, make my nest in you and protect you, all you have to do is say so.”

“Gods, you act like it’s all you.” Derek pulls back from Stiles’ neck, unable to keep the laugh from bubbling up, hysteria and triumph snaking through his veins like lava in an active volcano. “Of course, always. I’m yours as long as you are mine.”

Stiles whimpers, pulling Derek down into a proper kiss. It’s sloppy and they both fumble, trying to deepen it, teeth knocking together and noses pressed awkwardly against each other. Derek pulls back a little and smiles, then he slots their mouths perfectly together and keeps it chaste, deepens it slowly and licks into Stiles mouth. Wanting to taste, to burn his tongue on Stiles’ essence.

Stiles moans, his whole body shivering as Derek runs his hand down his wings, fisting handfuls of feathers and carding his fingers deep into down until he touches warm skin. Stiles pulls back with a gasp, fingers clutching at Derek’s shoulders like a clasp and arching his back into Derek’s hands.

“Oh wow!”

Derek smirks, hips hitching against Stiles. One hand loosens from Stiles’ wings to pull his hips harder against Derek’s, the angels answering erection nudging against his own.

“I mean, wow!” Stiles stares dumbfounded at the werewolf. “I’ve never, I thought…”

“You haven’t been kissed before?” Derek inquires teasingly with a raised eyebrow.  

“No.” Stiles blinks. “I’ve seen it happen but never knew why you all did it so much. It’s just, that was great!”

Derek chuckles. “Stiles, there’s a lot you haven’t done and kissing just the beginning.”

Stiles looks shocked, but excited to try everything Derek was willing to do to him. “There’s more?”

“A lot more,” Is Derek’s answering growl.

“Ok.”

Derek leans forward and nuzzles against Stiles’ neck.

“Ok.” He sighs.

****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This last chapter was unbetaed, so any mistakes were my own. Sorry this too so long to finish. Hopefully now I can work on the porn part of the series.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank the lovely Laraneia for betaing this so fast! Just so everyone one knows, this isn't a Supernatural crossover, but there are some simularity with angel characteristics.


End file.
